Join me as I review Bertrem’s Guide to the War of Souls: Vol. 2 by Don Perrin, Stan!, and Mary H. Herbert live! Share your thoughts on this final Bertrem’s Guide, released by Wizards of the Coast on November 1, 2002.
About Bertrem’s Guide to the War of Souls: Vol. 2
Insight into the everyday life of Dragonlance characters during the War of Souls.
The Bertrem’s Guides give readers insight into the everyday lives of the people in the Dragonlance universe. Using correspondence, reports, and essays, this second Bertrem’s Guide for the War of Souls elaborates on the goings-on during the current bestselling trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, fleshing out the current era for Dragonlance readers.
The highways and byways of Ansalon are being ravaged by war.
As the War of Souls rages, vast armies and powerful wizards vie for control of Krynn. But despite the deeds of the mighty, it is the common people who must endure the great hardships of war.
Bertrem of the Order of Aesthetics, keeper of the Great Library of Palanthas, gathers accounts of everyday life in Ansalon as it is forever changed by the War of Souls.
Contents
- The Last Testament of Bertrem the Aesthetic
- “Heroes of the Lance — Everywhere” by Don Perrin
- “A Journey to Shcallsea” by Stan!
- “The Insurrection that Never Was” by Stan!
- “River Supply of Silvanost” by Don Perrin
- “A Legionaire’s Journal” by Mary H. Herbert
- “The Building of Teyr” by Don Perrin
- “Excerpts from the Personal Journal of Aldreth Myger, Knight of the Lily” by Mary H. Herbert
- “Investigation on the Affliciton of Kender” by Don Perrin
- “Search for the Shadowpeople” by Don Perrin
- “The Urkhan” by Don Perrin
- “Mirage” by Mary H. Herbert
- “Lessons of Sun and Sand” by Don Perrin
- “Letters from a Son to his Father” by Mary H. Herbert
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Bakukal, Fleurgreen the 22nd. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of Bertrem’s Guide to the War of Souls: Vol. 2 by Don Perrin, Stan!, and Mary H. Herbert. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members and Patreon patrons, and invite you to consider becoming a member or patron. You can even pick up Dragonlance media or get $10 by signing up to StartPlaying.Games using my affiliate links. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
Review
The Last Testament of Bertrem the Aesthetic
This is very much a last testament. It is written as if he is dying and is giving recommendations to other aesthetics who will follow him. It is interesting as this is framed after the gods returned, Takhisis was killed and Paladine stepped down. So, isn’t Gilean back in the library? Shouldn’t that have been noted? In any case, it frames up the era well. This should not reference the War of Souls, as it has already occurred. Let’s find out if the stories all adhere to this.
“Heroes of the Lance — Everywhere” by Don Perrin
This was a speculative short piece about sighting in Palanthas of the heroes of the Lance. Specifically Raistlin Majere whispering to a pig, the ghost of Sturm Brightblade on the Tower of the high Clerist’s battlements, and Tanis Half Elven in the courtyard where he died. Finally Tika Waylan Majere supposedly won a barmaid competition after hitting a groping customer in the groin with a wine bottle. She disappeared after winning the competition. I am not sure why they included this in the post War of Souls as it was some eighty-plus years prior that the Heroes of the Lance were well known, but I guess we have to have nostalgia with our anthologies.
“A Journey to Schallsea” by Stan!
This was a great section, that while kind of annoying in presentation, held a significant amount of information pertaining to the Citadel of light. Specifically the time after Beryl attacked it and Goldmoon left, and the death of Beryl in Qualinost. It follows an aesthetic from sailing into port to visiting the various areas all around the citadel. Talking with sailors, orphans, mystics, adherents, etc. They speak of Mina and her leaving, the One God, Goldmoon and her faith in the old gods, and the spirits that are able to be seen on the island. Conundrum the gnome is there, still mapping the now, newly growing maze, and the fact that no one has had a vision since the great storm from the top of the silver stair, until the death of Beryl. While I was hoping these stories would be about after the War of Souls, it is nice to get insight to locations after the heroes have left, and the chaos they left in their wake.
“The Insurrection that Never Was” by Stan!
This follows the same group that took the pilgrimage to Schallsea Isle and the Citadel of Light. They are on a ship and the aesthetic asks one of the pilgrims, Katyana uth Mishakal how she got involved with the resistance in Palanthas. This is thus far a story from her perspective. Her father was a senator in occupied Palanthas. The Dark Knights were trying to force the senate’s hands into capitulation and took them into prison, torturing them. Katyana went to ask the Dark Knights about her father and they proposed she be the new senator as a puppet. She refused then decided to work with the citizens to go around the government to get the city operational again. Once that was done she returned to the Dark Knights and made a deal. They released her father and order continued. She still looked to act against the Dark Knights every chance she had. Then she realized that she became part of the institution. After serving as senator for thirty-five years, she realised her father was part of the rebellion against the Dark Knights and that he had been feeding her information from them. Then there is a plot to kill the Lord Knight of Palanthas and it is thwarted by one of the Dark Knights they tried to pull into the scheme. While everyone knew who plotted and failed, nothing came of it, as it reinforced the position of power the lord knight had. Now that Mina is invading Sanction and the end of the War of Souls is near, the Dark Knights do not have absolute control over the city and it looks like they may be able to be ousted entirely should enough support be garnered. It was a good story about Palanthas, in a time I have not really looked into. I am glad to hear the Dark Knights are losing control, it would be interesting to see if they maintain it long after the death of Takhisis.
“River Supply of Silvanost” by Don Perrin
This is a story about when Mina and her Dark Knights occupied Silvanost and liberated Silvanesti from the shield and Cyan Bloodbane. The story itself focuses on a commander left in charge when the bulk of Mina’s forces left for Sanction. He was transporting supplies up and down the Thon Thalas river, with aerial support from a blue dragon wing. However in the dark of night the canopy of trees made support difficult and the elves were fighting back, trying to stop supply routes. As this was from the perspective of the Dark Knights, it was a victory for them, though the tale talked about how they were pinned down and forced to move through the night or be taken by the elves. Finally when the elves nearly destroyed the supply chain, the aerial support came in and decimated them. The knights returned to Silvanost to their fortified positions and they were even promoted. This was a fun, albeit super short story.
“A Legionaire’s Journal” by Mary H. Herbert
This was a brilliant piece. It is a missive from a legionnaire in Duntollik to the headquarters of the Legion of Steele in Solace. It is about the experience of Kelena Athelen, one of the original four deserters of the Knights of Takhisis who formed the Legion of Steel with Sara Dunstan. They are operating, saving elven refugees from Qualinesti in the middle of a blizzard when a Dark Knight troupe finds and captures them. They split the prisoners, taking some further into the mountainous wilderness to question them. They have been hunting for the final deserter and have finally found her. They want to know more about th eLegion and its cells so they will interrogate, torture and kill them one by one. Out of nowhere Cobalt, Sara’s blue dragon looking hammered, rushes in and begins killing everyone. Eventually Kelena calms him down and finds out that the spirit of Sara woke him as frost wights from the chaos war were about to murder him in his hibernation. Cobalt left after Sara’s death. He learned that Takhisis is back, calling her dragons to the east and ghosts of the dead are trapped since the chaos war, stealing magic. Unable to heal himself from his battle with the wights, he sought out Sara and found Kelene. She convinced him to help her return to her other people and they eventually found them. The brutal winter storm has caused severe frostbite on her feet, so she had to be carried by Cobalt. They found and killed the Dark knights holding her people, but Cobalt went over a cliff with the Dark Knights leaders. He is assumed dead. It was impossible to scale the cliff and dig through the avalanche after his fall. The legion survivors travelled to Duntollic where some of her toes were amputated and she desires to perform admin in Solace. I loved this story because of the sadness and frenzy of Cobalt for Sara. He was so angry at his dark queen for keeping her here. His devotion to her is truly touching. I can only compare it to how I feel about my wife and kids. I would gladly travel to the ends of the earth and commit unspeakable acts on their behalf. I found myself getting misty eyed at the end. It is so good!
“Excerpts from the Personal Journal of Aldreth Myger, Knight of the Lily” by Mary H. Herbert
I am not sure of the point of this one. It was really short and was an excerpt of a journal of a Dark Knight traveling the King’s Road. It contained very basic information about the elves coming to Silvanesti through the Plains of Dust and how the Dark Knight would have loved to see their faces when they realised Silvanesti was occupied. Then it spoke of some lesser Dragon Overlords in the Plains of Dust and how they are missing or silent. It spoke of the region briefly and then just ended. Apparently the author died of a snake bite and the legion of Steel found the journal and forwarded it on to their headquarters in Solace. I am not sure this was worth even this brief writeup.
“The Building of Teyr” by Don Perrin
This story is all about the dwarven ruins that the Draconians created into Teyr. It speaks of their investigations into the abandoned Dwarven town, both above and below ground, and the process of clearing and reconfiguring the town to fit the military nature of the draconians and their distinct needs. It goes on to discuss the sociology of the draconians about how some preferred the military life they were born into , which was still needed for defence, but that others took to civilian life. They would create businesses to support the community. They would steal bulls and cows to create a food source and the dwarven wells in the ruins were still operational. All in all it was an interesting article, but it really didn’t give you anything you wouldn’t already have guessed about the Draconians learning to be in their own town.
“Investigation on the Affliction of Kender” by Don Perrin
This is a bit of a redundant piece of information. The article, story? Is about Afflicted kender, framed as a Dark Knight missive to Mina, but never explored further after the introduction. It presents Kender, their believed history, historical inaccuracies, handling and affliction due to Malystryx the Red Dragons decimation of their land and people. It proposes a few hypotheses about why they are afflicted and that it will probably go away in a few generations. As Malys is still around at the time of the writing, I can only assume they were referencing traditional evolution. But seeing as Malys was the direct in-game cause of the affliction, her later absence will aid greatly in the affliction diminishing or going away entirely. Ultimately it doesn’t propose anything new that the SAGA System hasn’t already proposed and feels very much like filler content for this novel.
“Search for the Shadowpeople” by Don Perrin
This was another odd inclusion to the novel. It doesn’t provide any information about the Shadowpeople, only that someone found some remnants of them in tunnels beneath Sanction. It is all speculation and no facts. I don’t know why this type of content-less work is even in this piece. It is just a communique about confusion. Totally useless.
“The Urkhan” by Don Perrin
This was a bit more of a fun way to present the ecology of the Urkhan works the dwarfs of thorbardin use to burrow tunnels. It speaks of how the creature is beneficial at all phases of its life cycle and how they are used throughout. The characters presenting and recording the information are interesting enough. I suppose the biggest takeaway seems to be that this was presented as a collection of War of Souls or Post War of Souls glimpses into the lives of citizens, yet it is more of an examination of categories, a race, a creature, etc. That is not the same as explaining the effects of the War of SOuls on the common man, or how they are managing life as the gods once again returned to Krynn.
“Mirage” by Mary H. Herbert
I am utterly confused. This was three pages of two letters talking about how Iesta and other dragons have gone missing, and that boats sunk due to the great storm that swept over Ansalon. That was it, then it just ended. I am really confused about why many of these ‘stories’ were written and included. It really feels like a lot of filler content.
“Lessons of Sun and Sand” by Don Perrin
This was a treatise on the Plains of Dust. It is framed around the mistakes the elves of Qualinesti made when crossing it to Silvanesti. It talks about how you should dress, how you should drink, and what you should avoid eating. AIt also briefly speaks to the dangers of the desert. It is all from someone who was helped by Desert Nomads and those same people helped the elves. It does not go into great detail, but it is still something that if you are unaware of desert survival, it provides you just enough information to make a session interesting in a tabletop roleplaying game. But certainly not enough to be actually useful.
“Letters from a Son to his Father” by Mary H. Herbert
This was an interesting setup in the Plains of Dust as well. A young man left home, frustrated and fighting with his father. When he was abandoned from the ship in the Plains of Dust for being difficult he nearly died in the desert, not knowing how to survive. He was rescued by a Centaur and brought to Wanterer’s desert nomad tribe. This is set before the Tarmak invasion of the Plains of Dust when the dragons have home missing and after the elves crossed the plains. He is offered a chance to learn how to be a mystic healer and joins the tribe in fighting off Draconians. They travel to the World Tree and he has a vision about riding off to the coming battle. The whole story is a letter to his father, apologising for his behavior and telling him that he found his way. It’s a nice story about someone growing up, and I can’t help but see myself in these types of tales as I am constantly growing as an individual, making countless mistakes and learning from them. I suppose in the best of cases, we all do.
This is a hit and miss collection of notes and stories. I am not sure it actually tells us anything that we didn’t learn from other sourcebooks or the War of Souls trilogy, but I am glad I read it for a few of the tales. If you read the other two Bertrem guides, you might as well read this one. But if you haven’t, I would say it’s best to read volume one and leave it at that.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of Bertrem’s Guide to the War of Souls: Vol. 2 by Don Perrin, Stan!, and Mary H. Herbert. What do you think of these War of Souls collections? Do you feel like you learned anything from them? And finally, would you like to see an exclusively post war of souls series? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.
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